Benjamin Kayser has become a mainstay of the rugby punditry game, particularly when French sides are involved. And viewers of ITV will have seen him throughout the Six Nations. But what can we tell you about him?
Here are ten things to know…
Who is the French pundit on ITV?
1. Kayser was born in Paris, on 26 July 1984.
2. A hooker in his playing days, he stands at 6ft and his playing weight was 17st 8lbs.
3. He is married to Andrea, who is from Kent. The pair met when Kayser played for Leicester Tigers.
He told World Rugby of that time ““I basically met her in Leicester on a night out. Then I left her tickets for the next year at Welford Road stadium and I would get a text, you know, every time, ‘congratulations you won’ or ‘sorry you lost’, you know stuff like that.”
4. He says that it was Argentina legend and former World Rugby vice-chairman Agustin Pichot was the one who talked him into giving a move to England a chance.
5. Kayser describes his move to Welford Road as like “joining the NBA” – but his first clubs was Stade Français and he returned there after a few seasons in Leicester.
6. He also played for Castres and finished his career at Clermont where he played for eight years.
7. Kayser won the Top 14 and the Challenge Cup with Clermont, and in 2019 told The Telegraph of winning the league: “When we won the Top 14 in 2017, I think of Morgan Parra, Alexandre Lapandry, Aurelien Rougerie, Chouly, Sebastian Vahaamahina, we went through some tough times. Of course I was happy for the young bucks like Damian Penaud who do not have a care in the world.
“All the others, I went to some dark places with those guys, so I was super pleased to win it. Same with the Challenge Cup. Hopefully the same with the final on Saturday.”
8. Kayser has 37 caps for France, playing in the 2015 Rugby world Cup. He scored two Test tries – both off the bench – the first coming against Tonga.
9. He made his Test debut against Australia, off the bench – his first start came in cap 12, against Samoa.
10. Kayser has segued into television well, working in his time as an analyst and pundit for BBC, ITV and BT Sport, in the UK.
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